Confused on the new JL 12W3v3

[VTLexus 10+ year member]

hey guys, i am new to this forum, and am about to put a new sub in my car. i used to have the JL 12w3v2 and have done some online shopping on the 12w3v3. half the websites i find rate the v3 at 300W rms but the official JL website has it at 500W continuous power. even my local retailer, tweeter, has the 12w3v3 in their computer system as 300W. can anyone clear up this confusion for me?

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[Trey803 5,000+ posts]

such a small difference I would get a 500watt amp either way though

 

[Millertime1028 10+ year member]

Yea that ^ . Better off having more power and turning down the gain then having to upgrade later on.

 

[VTLexus 10+ year member]

no...i guess my question is why do half the places out there rate the 12w3v3 at 300W rms and the other half at 500w? i def want the 500, but i don't get why there are two seperate power ratings for the same model.

 

[slappinX 10+ year member]

JL changed all the ratings on the subs a couple months ago. They rated them conservatively then raised them to what they really can take.

Like the 13w7 was listed as 1000w continuous then they changed it to 1500w

 

[thevic24 5,000+ posts]

jl just updated there power ratings to compete with other brand power ratings. they have allways been somewhat under rated. i have a 10w3v3 running off of a ppi 600a2 with no problems.

 

[VTLexus 10+ year member]

in my opinion, under rating a sub by 200W is not underrating, that is just being way off. that is a signifcant amount of power.

can anyone provide an opinion on whether it sounds more like a 500w sub rather than a 300W sub? if not, how does it compare to the 12w3v2? that was my old sub...would you guys its similar or much better?

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

optimum is in the yellow ~300-400

peak rms is red/black ~500+

 

[thevic24 5,000+ posts]

when they test ther subs, they test then for 8 hours non stop with diffrent power levels. (this is what they told me) the v3s do handle more power than the v2s. i give mine 600 rms all day with no signs of stress.

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

Yeah, JL was tired of taking flak because their subs had lower ratings for their subs than other subs similarly priced. Since they conservatively rated their subs, they bumped up the ratings a bit.

 

[VTLexus 10+ year member]

One last question guys...can anyone compare their sound to the 12w3v2?

if they are similar i think i am going to go for the kicker L5...

 

[thevic24 5,000+ posts]

the v3s have a little more z-max and power handeling and i got around a 10-20% increase in out put vs the v2s. if your wanting just more spl go with the kicker, if your lookin for a combo of both spl and sq, i would go with the jl if you can get it cheap